IDA eNews: 2/13/08

Baby Elephant Dies at San Diego Zoo
IDA Says "Rubbish" to Zoo Alliance With Trash Giant
Victory: South Dakota Legislators Reject Horse Slaughterhouse Proposal
California Sea Lions Face Lethal Removal in Pacific Northwest
In Memorium: California Congressman Tom Lantos


IDA Protests Tragic Death of Baby Elephant at San Diego Zoo
Coalition calls for end to captive breeding and capture of elephants from the wild

Following last week's death of a female infant elephant at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, the Save Wild Elephants Coalition (of which IDA is a member) renewed their call for an end to the captive breeding and capture of elephants from the wild for display in zoos. The young pachyderm who died was born to a female who was one of 11 elephants captured in 2003 from the African country of Swaziland, and was euthanized at the San Diego Zoo after becoming severely ill. The Coalition opposed the import of these elephants before they were taken from their homeland for display in the U.S., and charges that this tragic incident is just one more piece of evidence pointing to the failure of U.S. zoos' elephant breeding and display programs.

The euthanization of this calf adds to the death toll that continues to mount at the San Diego Zoo. Previously, three older elephants -- Peaches, Tatima and Wanky -- had died within two years of their transfer from San Diego to Chicago in order to make room for the new elephants from Africa (seven of whom were sent to San Diego). Since 2001, at least 16 elephant pregnancies in U.S. zoos have ended in stillbirths or other complications. The infant mortality rate for elephants in U.S. zoos (ages 0-1) is four times higher than that documented in free-ranging populations in Africa and Asia.

Many zoos refuse to acknowledge that captive breeding of elephants has been a dismal failure. They continue to waste hundreds of millions of dollars housing roughly 300 elephants, even as wild elephants endure poaching, habitat loss, and herd fragmentation throughout Africa and Asia. These funds could and should be used instead to save entire populations of elephants in their native lands by focusing on enforcement of anti-poaching laws, habitat protection, and human/elephant conflict mitigation, instead of importing or attempting to breed more elephants for display.

That is why the Save Wild Elephants Coalition is calling for an immediate halt to zoo elephant breeding programs, and a ban on importing these animals into zoos where they suffer from chronic physical ailments, social and emotional deprivation, and premature death. To get our message out, IDA joined forces with PETA and San Diego Animal Advocates to co-host a demonstration at the San Diego Zoo on Friday, February 8th. Thank you to all the caring people who attended our protest and helped tell the zoo industry that elephants shouldn't be bred in captivity or removed from the wild.

What You Can Do:

If your local zoo breeds or displays elephants, please keep the issue alive in your community by writing letters to the editor of your newspapers. Contact IDA at elephant [at] idausa.org for tips and information specific to your zoo.

To learn more about what you can do to help elephants in captivity, please visit http://www.helpelephants.com .


IDA Says "Rubbish" to Zoo Alliance With Trash Giant
Proposed elephant breeding farm would dispose of animal welfare concerns

Historically, captive elephant breeding has been an unmitigated disaster, so why is the zoo industry allying itself with garbage giant Waste Management, Inc. to build an elephant farm in Florida? To facilitate the breeding and distribution of elephants for display in the cramped, substandard exhibits of U.S. zoos, charges IDA. Furthermore, in sharp contrast to the deceptive claims of its profit-driven proponents, IDA maintains that the so-called National Elephant Center (NEC) will do nothing to protect elephant welfare or promote conservation, and will in fact lead to more suffering for elephants.

"How ironic that the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which claims a conservation mission, has teamed up with a giant polluter to establish an elephant farm next to a landfill in central Florida," said IDA president and veterinarian Elliot Katz. "The public should not be bamboozled into thinking that this proposed center will help elephants, either in captivity or in the wild."

IDA contends that the proposed breeding farm fails on many levels, including:

- The "warehousing" of some elephants, while others will be routinely shuffled in and out of the facility, breaking social bonds and seriously impacting the welfare of these highly intelligent and socially-complex animals.

- Management of elephants most likely accomplished by circus-style methods that rely on painful physical punishment and deliberately-instilled fear.

- Siphoning of funds from true conservation programs that protect elephants in their natural African and Asian habitats where they belong. U.S. zoos already plan to spend in excess of $250 million to build new elephant enclosures in the near future. The NEC plan would divert millions more from conservation towards inhumanely mass-breeding elephants in captivity, increasing their suffering.

- Lack of public accountability. As a private institution, the proposed center would not be subject to public records laws, as publicly-owned zoos currently are.

Zoos continue to house elephants in substandard and unnatural conditions that cause a range of problems, including painful degenerative diseases, reproductive failures, behavioral disorders, and premature death. In light of these ongoing problems, Dr. Katz pointed out that "The planned center is nothing new. It recycles the same old zoo approach to captive elephant management that has failed elephants for over 100 years. It's time to end the captive breeding and import of elephants and focus all efforts on saving these endangered animals in the wild."


For more information about the dismal lives of elephants in zoos, visit http://www.helpelephants.com .


Victory: South Dakota Legislators Reject Horse Slaughterhouse Proposal
National outcry convinces Senate committee to drop construction bond measure

In our January 30th eNews, we reported that some members of the South Dakota legislature had proposed a bill to provide a taxpayer-funded loan of up to $1 million to any enterprise willing to build and operate a horse slaughterhouse plant in the state. We are pleased to report that last week, the state's Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee rejected this misguided measure, in large part due to letters, phone calls, and emails from IDA supporters and other animal advocates around the nation expressing opposition to the bill. Thank you to everyone who responded to our Action Alert urging committee members to kill the proposed construction of a horse slaughterhouse in South Dakota -- you helped stop a cruel plan from being approved.

In addition, while the bill was still being debated, the committee voted against a different measure calling for a state-sponsored study of horse slaughter. Their wisdom in choosing to fully oppose a horse meat processing plant in their state is evidence that elected officials are on the same side of this crucial animal protection issue as the American public. It also sends a powerful message to other states that may be considering similar proposals that they should instead support moves toward ending horse slaughter in the U.S. once and for all.

In September 2007, an Illinois court decision shut down the last remaining horse slaughterhouse operating in the U.S., preventing more than 90,000 horses from being brutally killed for meat in this country every year. While recent legal victories for horses are moving the U.S. towards full protection of equines from the meat industry, thousands of live horses are still sent into Mexico and Canada for slaughter. Only passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (S. 311/H.R. 503) would officially prohibit the butchery of horses in the U.S. for human consumption, as well as their export to other countries for the same purpose.

What You Can Do:

Check to see whether your Representative ( http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR00503:@@@P ) and Senators ( http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SN00311:@@@P ) are co-sponsors of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (AHSPA). If so, please call and thank them for supporting the effort to end horse slaughter in the U.S. If not, please politely ask them to become co-sponsors. Get contact info for your elected officials ( http://ga0.org/indefenseofanimals/leg-lookup/search.html ). Also send your legislators a follow-up email via IDA's AHSPA Action Alert ( http://ga0.org/campaign/endhorseslaughter3 ).


California Sea Lions Face Lethal Removal in Pacific Northwest
Please Take Action to submit comments against killing marine mammals by Feb. 19th

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has proposed a plan that would allow Washington and Oregon to kill (by lethal injection or shooting) as many as 85 California sea lions each year at the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, ostensibly to prevent the disappearance of wild salmon from the region. However, this approach is fundamentally flawed for a number of reasons, the main one being that sea lions are only responsible for eating between 2 and 4 percent of the salmon runs. Meanwhile the dam itself kills 2-16 percent of the adult fish, and "harvest" by fishermen is allowed at levels between 4-17 percent each year, so killing sea lions will do virtually nothing to help salmon populations recover.

Meanwhile, habitat degradation and threats to the survival of juvenile fish are the two greatest problems facing the salmon, neither of which will be solved by killing sea lions. In fact, the NMFS has presented no evidence that killing sea lions will do anything to save the fish, admitting in their Environmental Assessment ( http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Seals-and-Sea-Lions/Sec-120-Draft-EA.cfm ) that they cannot project "a reliable estimate of any decrease in pinniped predation and corresponding increase in salmonid survival."

Rather than offering a legitimate program of action based on scientific study that will actually save the salmon, the NMFS preferred plan to kill sea lions will do little more than allow fishermen to vent their frustration at seeing fish being eaten. Perhaps even more damaging to the conservation cause, it will give the public the impression that something is being done about saving the salmon while in reality their very survival remains at stake.

What You Can Do:

Please Take Action ( http://ga0.org/campaign/casealions ) to oppose the NMFS proposal today. Note that the public comment period closes on Tuesday, February 19th.


In Memorium: California Congressman Tom Lantos
14-term Representative was a staunch supporter of animal causes

With the passing of 80-year-old Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA) from cancer on Monday, February 11th, the world lost a great champion of human rights, and one of the animals' best friends in U.S. government. As the only holocaust survivor to ever serve in the U.S. Congress, Lantos embodied a moral authority that he wielded for more than 37 years as a stalwart advocate for the oppressed and victimized, no matter what their species.

Though only a teenager during World War II, Lantos fought against the Nazis in the Hungarian resistance, and at 16 was captured and sent to a forced labor camp. Enduring harsh beatings and other cruelties, he escaped imprisonment twice before coming under the protection of a Swedish diplomat and emigrating to the U.S. Tragically, most of Lantos' family members died in the ensuing genocide.

Like many holocaust survivors, Lantos developed a heightened sensitivity to the heartrending injustices of the world that cause such widespread suffering for so many. As an elected federal Representative of Northern California, he deftly translated his compassionate values into legislative action -- founding the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, securing humanitarian aid for Darfur, crusading against the worldwide AIDS epidemic, and much more.

Congressman Lantos was also one of the most important leaders on animal protection issues in the U.S. House of Representatives. He co-chaired the Congressional Friends of Animals Caucus, a bipartisan coalition that promotes animal-friendly legislation, and sponsored and supported many important bills himself. Representative Lantos introduced and/or helped pass such legislation as the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (which requires inclusion of animal companions in state and local disaster planning), the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, the Downed Animal Protection Act, and the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, among many others.

In celebrating the life of Tom Lantos, we hope that his example will inspire others, especially his political colleagues, to take up the crucial causes for which he fought so passionately. His life serves as an example of how each individual can expand their circle of concern beyond themselves to those who are most in need of our help, both human and non-human. Those who miss Rep. Lantos can take comfort in the fact that he left this world a better place than he found it, and that his memory will live for a very long time in his many achievements.


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